Arcane Tyrant

Arcane Tyrant Card

Arcane Tyrant is a 5 Mana Cost Epic Neutral Minion Elemental card from the Kobolds and Catacombs set!

Card Text

Costs (0) if you've cast a spell that costs (5) or more this turn.

Flavor Text

Tyrant is such a strong word.

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50 Comments

  1. JadeBuddha
    December 5, 2017 at 2:09 PM

    In terms of playing a spell that costs 5 or more, let’s say I’m a warlock and use Bloodbloom to make a Siphon Soul cost 6 health instead of 6 mana. Would that still allow me to cast the Arcane Tyrant for 0, or does it only work with spells that cost mana?

    • swz
      December 6, 2017 at 12:47 AM

      Yes. The text say ‘cost (5) or more’ and it costed you 6 health which is 5 or more

      • Spyder9899
        December 12, 2017 at 11:07 AM

        I’m pretty sure he wasn’t asking if 6 is greater than 5.

        Nice try though.

  2. Guy
    November 29, 2017 at 3:17 PM

    This is really powerful, druid turn 5 no longer has to choose between tempo and ramp.

  3. Yancie
    November 27, 2017 at 2:11 PM

    8/10
    This card looks like it’s gonna be great both in Elemental-themed control decks and in Ramp Druid.

  4. Roberto
    November 27, 2017 at 3:26 AM

    Elemental mage, here i come!

    spells currently played and equal/above 5 mana: 1x (usually) Meteor – 2x blizzard – 1x flamestrike – 2x firelands portal.

    or if you put it just in control mage, there are also Cabalist tomes to help out…………………………….

    PS: it’s obviously epic…….I will never find so many epics 🙁

  5. Imaloony
    November 26, 2017 at 5:36 PM

    This seems like it has potential. Casting free minions is good, but we have two interesting parallels to compare it to: Happy Ghoul and Thing From Below. While Happy Ghoul saw SOME play, it ultimate left, as a 3/3 wasn’t competitive enough and wasn’t as convenient as people wanted it to be to get out. Thing From Below, is of course still an amazing card, and it was one that you could build up to be 0 cost over time, so you could start your turn with it that way. This one… doesn’t compare with either of them in that light. It can’t be 0 cost at the start of the turn like TFB, and the effect that it needs to pull off is more impactful but more expensive than Happy Ghoul. I’m a little stumped on this thing. It seems like the classes that would be most able to run it are Druid and Mage, since they have the best expensive spells, but it doesn’t sound like something they’d really want to put in their deck; not really an impactful enough card. Pally might want it; they’ve got Spikeridge Steed and they like to have free minions to buff/flood the board. If a token-ish aggro Pally becomes popular again, this might see its way into that deck. Otherwise, I wouldn’t hold my breath.

    Poor in arena for the most part where expensive spells are probably uncommon, but when it goes off is big enough to turn the tide.

    Standard: 2/5
    Arena: 2/5

    • DackFayden
      November 26, 2017 at 6:20 PM

      This creature is ridiculous in every deck that plays expensive spells. In Jade Druid this is a ridiculous upgrade, as now both Nourish and UI will also give board presence, a major weakness of the deck. UI especially is much better as getting free 4/4 and a 5/5 means that you will rarely lose the board. Unless a dominating aggro deck shows up, this card will return Jade Druid to tier 1. Simply because of this, Arcane Tyrant is a 5/5 card.

      • Imaloony
        November 27, 2017 at 1:43 AM

        The concern I have is that by the time Druid is dropping Nourish and UI, how relevant is a 4/4, even if it’s free? And it isn’t entirely “free” either because it takes up a deck slot. Is this efficient enough for Druid to even care and clear out that deck slot for this guy? I think there’s a fair chance that it simply isn’t efficient enough for Druid to even notice it.

        • DackFayden
          December 5, 2017 at 6:47 AM

          Of course. Jade Druid’s main weakness is having to ramp/draw in the mid-game without developing board presence. This makes the payoff, UI much more swingy, as the weakness of UI is that it only removes 1 thing and creates 1 thing, allowing your opponent to go wide. This will allow you to go wide as well. Also, Nourish for draw becomes much better with this, as does Spreading Plague. Do not underestimate free 4/4s. Also, not that Druid now has yet another highroll, ramping into Nourish + double Arcane Tyrant on turn 4 is pretty busted. Also, this prevents you from overdrawing with UI as well, which is helpful. In the worst place you can still play it on turn 5 instead of just hero-powering, which is still fine.

          Other than Druid, Tempo Mage can also abuse this card. Free 4/4s are very helpful in tempo decks, and its an elemental to boot.

          As for taking up deck spots. Thats really not that valuable. Jade Druid has multiple flex slots, and this card is quite high on the power curve.

      • CD001
        November 27, 2017 at 6:17 AM

        Only for a few months – first expansion of 2018 the Jades rotate out of standard – so that’s Jade Druid dead.

        As does Mire Keeper so, with Jade Blossom, that’s 2 ramp cards down which hits Ramp Druid. Not to mention the loss of Y’Shaarj and Deathwing Dragonlord (and to a lesser extent Kun) – which is probably going to kill Big Druid.

        Patches the Pirate, Enchanted Raven, Mark of Y’Shaarj and Mark of the Lotus also go which hits Token Druid.

        It doesn’t really matter _that_ much that this card could be horrible with the current Druid Archetypes as they’re pretty much all going to be trashed in about 3 months whereas this’ll be around for another 15 months in standard.

        • Chaostouched
          November 30, 2017 at 8:50 AM

          Thank God. The day Jades rotate out might be the day I start back playing hearthstone.

    • Name (Required)
      November 30, 2017 at 10:02 AM

      You mentioned Druid and Mage but what about Warlock?
      You can play Twisting Nether (Or Siphon Soul) followed by two Arcane Tyrants or you can pair up Rin’s seals with a couple of Arcane Tyrants to make up for some tempo loss
      You can go the extra mile and play Argus Defender to taunt up the demon and Arcane Tyrant to avoid damage to the face

      • Imaloony
        December 1, 2017 at 1:51 PM

        There’s some merit to playing this with Twisting Nether, you’re right (though I’m not sure it’s exactly the kind of thing Warlock wants to do, especially because there aren’t a lot of other Warlock Spells that pair up with this card, so if you don’t have Twisting Nether/Siphon Soul/draw this card early, it’s a pretty dead card).

        Rin is an amusing but horrible hard, so there’s no merit to pairing this with the seals.

  6. CD001
    November 26, 2017 at 11:07 AM

    Drawn at the wrong time, like really early or just after you’ve had to drop a big spell, it’s going to be awkward, but at the right time it could be really useful…

    Meteor on turn 6 to blow up your opponent’s minions and yet get a free 4/4 Elemental – which primes Blazecaller next turn.

    It’s a free 4/4 Ellie when you cast Nourish – and if it’s not in your hand it could be one of the 3 you draw.

    Sapphire Spellstone on 7 maybe, drop this guy as well so Kalimos is primed next turn.

  7. Czaruje
    November 26, 2017 at 4:35 AM

    This should be for mages only

  8. Rareducky
    November 26, 2017 at 2:13 AM

    No one comparing this card to Nerubian Prophet? It’s basically the same, but Prophet is more useful if u draw it early on.

    • Ruso
      November 26, 2017 at 4:09 AM

      Bro are you dense? This instantly becomes free if you play a big spell so you don’t lose tempo while still getting off a powerful effect. This is so much better than prophet, which you have to hold in your hand for several turns before it even becomes a below average minion.

    • Czaruje
      November 26, 2017 at 4:30 AM

      Its Elemental, thats what matters

  9. Random
    November 25, 2017 at 10:55 PM

    Random will definitely use this card!

    But “TEMPO”
    -Mr.Fukuson

  10. Chillip
    November 25, 2017 at 7:46 PM

    Turn 1 Coin Bloodbloom Kara Kazham and then this ez win

  11. RVR
    November 25, 2017 at 4:31 PM

    Maybe warlock legendary not bad with this.

    • Name (Required)
      November 25, 2017 at 6:05 PM

      Yes! Something to add in my Rinlock deck

  12. Eloard
    November 25, 2017 at 11:48 AM

    Definetely i will use it in my Big Druid. Really useful, when you play ultimate infestation and you draw a lot of cards and also after nourish or even after spreading plague. I dont know if it´s worth for competitive, but at least i´ll definetly use this cards for fun.

  13. Mrthejazz
    November 25, 2017 at 9:39 AM

    Hmm. I really like with nourish or even if sprint makes a comeback. There’s something about drawing three cards and being able to immediately play 1-2 for free that tickles me. A great card to play after vanish also. This guy on board. Vanish. Play him again free. Great for enabling rogue combos.

    Would this work with preparation on an expensive spell or would it no longer satisfy the condition?

    • PandaWolf525
      November 25, 2017 at 7:33 PM

      Your correct. Preparation would reduce the cost of the spell making it not 5 mana anymore. Its like how Atiesh will make a 3 mana creature even though teh original spell before teh cost reduction was 6 mana.

  14. elliot
    November 25, 2017 at 9:20 AM

    Nice follow up to twisting nether

  15. Mr Fukuson
    November 25, 2017 at 9:02 AM

    T E M P O

  16. KaiZer
    November 25, 2017 at 8:49 AM

    Now druids can cast Nourish on 5 without suffering a significant tempo loss

    • Ixc
      November 25, 2017 at 10:57 AM

      Or get a 7/7, 5/5, AND 4/4 with their UI! Great!

      • Nizaura
        November 25, 2017 at 11:09 AM

        …AND a random 10 drop 😀

      • Ixc
        November 25, 2017 at 12:11 PM

        Could also be useful for any warlocks looking to play Rin, makes up for some of the tempo lost with the first and second seals……

  17. Chocobo
    November 25, 2017 at 8:13 AM

    Ok so this clearly can see some play in turns where you absolutely need big board clear followed by some board presence.
    The bad side is that its a dead card up to turn 5 which by then you may be too far behind.
    But huge tempo swings with cards like firelands portal . And having the elemental tag which allows for maybe a Blazecaller to follow up ?
    Interesting card i wish it wasnt epic though since epics now seem more rare than legendary. And wasting 800 dust to playtest and realize it was a mistake feels bad.

    • DyingHawk
      November 25, 2017 at 10:51 AM

      lich king is pretty dead till turn 8 but he’s really good, I don’t understand how costing more than 2 mana makes it a bad card.

      • Chocobo
        November 25, 2017 at 11:35 AM

        You dont understand ? do you play Hearthstone ?

        • Spyder9899
          November 25, 2017 at 1:42 PM

          A card that cost 5 mana is a dead card untill turn 5??? Can’t you say that about all cards? Might want to rethink your logic there.

          Also, I don’t understand either. Seems like you’re saying that all cards over 2 mana are bad. Do you play Hearthstone?

          • Chocobo
            November 26, 2017 at 12:55 AM

            Its surely dead up to turn 5.And if you dont have a high cost spell by then it still dead.
            It seems like im saying that only to you because you are a bad player.
            What rank are you again ?

          • Spyder9899
            November 26, 2017 at 2:27 AM

            *smh

            Still don’t get it, do you.

            And how is it a “dead” card if you don’t have a high cost spell? I’m pretty sure you can still play it on with 5 mana.

            You might want to go through the tutorial again.

  18. bell
    November 25, 2017 at 7:47 AM

    Clear full board by volcano, then this. Wow

  19. Crapcrack
    November 25, 2017 at 7:35 AM

    It reminds me of Kabal crystal runner, in Mage i think this potentially a good card.

  20. sober667
    November 25, 2017 at 7:34 AM

    Wtf u wipe board with flamstrike turn 7 and follow up with 4/4 daaaam there are a few more cards wich can work with big spell mage we may see new archetype

  21. WhitePanther
    November 25, 2017 at 7:07 AM

    There’s an error in the name! But i think this card has a lot of potential

  22. Helioshadow
    November 25, 2017 at 7:06 AM

    0-mana 4/4 could be great in Arena with a decent deck to build around it. In constructed? I’m not so sure. It IS an Elemental, so there’s some synergy there, but it also requires big spells which currently Elemental decks don’t typically run. I’m not sure about this card. I guess Mages have gotten a few Elementals, so Elemental Mage with DK could be a thing, just sprinkle in say a Blizzard, Flamestrike, and a couple Firelands Portals and it could work.

    Absolutely love the card-art tho 😀

  23. Osbourne Cox
    November 25, 2017 at 7:00 AM

    Nice for Elemental Mage!